The trouble with two
by Bright-Joy
Summary: When Amy Lindley arrives in Capeside, Lily Leery is asked to take her in hand. Sparks fly between the two over a play, guys and secrets


A/N: I do not own the characters of Dawson's Creek.

"School is so completely over-rated." Lily Leery slammed the door of the metal locker with an accomplished flick of the wrist, and leant against it, sighing. "I cannot believe that another two years of obnoxious teachers, hyperbolic homework assignments and numerous guys asking me out with the sole purpose of meeting my older brother is the function of my little life." Lily had, at the tender age of three and a half, started to use the extended vocabulary passed down to her through extended family, and put it to the same, SAT-full-verbal-score usage as her brother's generation had.

"Are you sure you're finished?" the eyebrow quirk of her friend, confidante and five-year-old crush, Andrew Darwin was acute, to say the least. "Sure you can't expound at length on the various merits of freedom, and the boredom of life in dear old Capeside?" Lily swatted at him with a textbook, rolling her eyes dramatically.

"I'm done, I swear. But if one more person asks me, joking of course, Lily," she put on a false jocular manner, "If Dawson has a part for them in his next movie, I think I will jump off Capeside High. I really, really-"

"Hello, Ms Leery." The principal smiled down at her. "Welcome back." Lily smiled sweetly, flashing the woman her most brilliant grin. "How did you spend your summer? I heard your older brother has a new movie going into production soon, hope there's a part for me lined up." The woman laughed pleasantly. "Joking, of course, dear. Far too much to do here at Capeside." She nodded to Drew, and walked on down the corridor.

Drew hid a smile, and looked at Lily. "Shut up," she muttered, stalking off.

.

"Uncle Jack, I hardly think this is the best possible way of avoiding notice and gaining acceptance in Capeside." It was stated matter-of-factly as the police car, lights still flashing, drew up to the front of the school. Amy Lindley sank down in the seat, deeply embarrassed, as Jack pecked his boyfriend on the cheek.

"Thanks for the ride, Doug," he smiled, picking his bag up from the backseat. "Come on, Amy. Capeside Junior High is great. You'll love it."

"I doubt that," Amy said quietly, looking up at the sunshine-dappled red brick building. "I really, really do."

.

"Some of the greatest writers in the world have come from England. Name a few of them," Jack McPhee pointed at random to a redheaded girl sitting in the back row. "Shakespeare?" she offered. Jack smiled, and nodded.

"Yeah, Shakespeare is the first guy to spring to mind, isn't he?" he agreed. "Who else?"

"I totally adore Jane Austen," a curly haired girl spoke up, rolling her eyes in emphasis. "She's like, totally cool, y'know?" Jack paused before saying anything else.

"Other writers?" This time he pointed to a boy seated beside the window. The boy shrugged.

"Uh, Wordsworth?" he said weakly. Jack bobbed his head enthusiastically. "Exactly. We've been studying white, English writers for years. This semester we'll be studying 'The color purple', 'Song of Solomon', 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'." The bell rang loudly in the corridor outside, and the students began gathering their books together in anticipation.

"Hold it," Jack held up his hands, laughing. "I know the urgent call of your stomachs overrules most of what I'm about to say, but, English play. Sign up for try outs now."

As Lily walked past her honorary 'uncle's desk, he touched her shoulder.

"Hey Lily, good summer?" She nodded, her blonde ponytail swishing.

"Yeah. Dawson had me do this internship thing. Turned out that it meant covering for his absence with his girlfriend when he was out at two am with a suicidal star." She rolled her eyes. "So not what I expected."

Jack flashed her a conspiratorial grin. "Lily, do you think you could do me a favour?" She sighed, expecting a request for cooking help. "Amy, kinda my adopted daughter, is new at Capeside Junior High. Do you think you could keep an eye on her? I know lunch is kinda a joint affair with the building work, so if you could grab her and just be friendly, y'know, then that would save my life."

"Sure, Uncle Jack," Lily agreed, shifting her books from one arm to the other. "Got a picture?"

The girl in the photo had her arms wrapped around an old woman. She had a heart-shaped face with a dimple in her left cheek, honey-blonde hair curling around her face and wicked blue eyes.

"How old is she?" Lily asked, handing the photo back. Jack smiled.

"Amy's thirteen."

.

Amy poked at the large lump of grey meat on her plate cautiously with her fork. "I am not the meat," she muttered, stabbing it viciously. "The meat is me."

"Did you see her this morning?" one girl snickered as a group walked past her table. "She came to school in a police car. And her dad is like, gay."

Great. And the rumors start once more. Amy sighed, and mashed the now dead lunchmeat against the side of her plate. Uncle Jack really didn't help her case sometimes. 

"Hi. You're Amy, right?" Amy blinked at the tall girl standing in front of her. She had, Amy hadn't mixed it up, crossed from the distinctly un-Junior section of the Capeside High cafeteria, and was presently standing in front of Amy Lindley.

She was skinny, in a tall, thin kind of way, her pale blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. She waved a hand at her lunchtray.

"Either you're Amy, or I'm carrying this thing somewhere else," Lily stated bluntly. "It's heavy." Amy nodded, still dazzled by the teenager.

"I'm Amy," she answered, scooting her tray over so the girl could sit down. Lily smiled, showing pretty white teeth.

"Wonderful. I'm Lily. Lily Leery, and if the first thing out of your mouth after that has something to do with the hapless circumstance that makes my dear brother genetically attached to me, I swear I will rip off your head and feast on the bloody entrails within." Lily's smile was positively angelic. Amy swallowed her mouthful of water.

"Excuse me?" she spluttered. Lily waved a hand dismissively. "Just a reflex. When your brother is living it up in L.A and Hollywood, making movies left right and center, try dealing with the fall out without developing diversion tactics." She shrugged, unscrewing the cap on a bottle of water. "I'm not an angry person, really."

"So how is it you know my name, and my face?" Amy drawled, propping her chin on her palm as she watched Lily unload the contents of her tray across the table. Twinkies, another dessert and a sandwich she stacked neatly by the side of her own plate. "Should I be worried? Is there a single white female thing going on here?" she added, nonchalantly.

"Barbet Schroeder, nice choice," Lily grinned. "Written, I believe, by Don Roos. Of course, not real big with the talent. It was only taken from the novel," she explained. "And I know your name from Uncle Jack. He's kinda not my uncle, just my brother's friend. He teaches English here."

"What's with the food?" Amy waved her fork at the pile of stuff, sidestepping any information to feed Lily's clear curiosity. Telling her life story to a complete stranger with a wider film trivia knowledge than 'Trivial Pursuit' was not on her top ten things to do on her first day in Capeside.

"That would be Drew," Lily sighed. An gawky teenage boy skidded to a halt beside their table.

"Hey Lil. What's for lunch?" he said cheerfully, by way of greeting. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Amy, Drew. Drew, Amy." Lily watched Drew and the new girl exchange 'hellos' interestedly, catching the shy smile, the sotto voce witty repartee, and sparkling blue eyes. Yup, Amy could hold her own among her and Uncle Jack's extended family. Now the question remained – Who exactly was she, and why was she in Capeside?


End file.
